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Facebook building ‘blazing fast’ iOS app, New York Times says

Facebook is working on making a faster version of its mobile app, according to the New York Times today.

The app is reportedly being built primarily with Objective-C, a language that should make the app significantly faster than it is now. Facebook’s mobile apps are much slower than other apps because the company uses HTML5 within an Objective-C shell. The existing method allows Facebook to push out changes without requiring a full version update in the App Store. It also means engineers can reuse code across multiple mobile platforms. But the result is often frustrating for users who have to wait longer for items to load or restart the app after it crashes.

The New York Times’ Nick Bilton says he spoke with Facebook engineers involved with the project and got to see the new app live. He describes it as “blazing fast.” The app is not getting a visual redesign, he says. The update is about speed and reliability, he says.

There is no set date for the update and Facebook hasn’t confirmed the story, but Bilton says engineers told him it is expected to be released this summer.